Steve Vai Fire Garden CD

Personnel: Steve Vai (vocals, various instruments, guitar); Devin Townsend (vocals); Will Riley (keyboards); Stu Hamm, John Avila, Fabrizio Gossi (bass); Deen Castronovo, Greg Bissonette, Chris Frazier, Mark Mangini, Robin DiMaggio (drums); C.C. White, Tracee Lewis, Miroslava Mendoza Escriba, Kimberly Evans, John "Gash" Sombrotto, Mark McCrite, Jim Altman (background vocals).
Steve Vai offers the following words of advice about Fire Garden, his fifth solo album: "This is essentially a double CD packed onto one. In this package there are over 74 minutes of music. Phase I (for the most part) is all instrumental music, and Phase II (for the most part) is all vocal selections, with the exception of 'Warm Regards.' ... Being as dense as it is, this CD may best be experienced by devouring it in pieces, but those with a strong constitution may dare to consume it whole as it is." Seldom has an artist provided more telling liner notes for his own album. Fire Garden is indeed a dense album, filled with a never-ending array of sonic textures and guitar tones. Unlike most guitar heroes, Vai doesn't treat music as a way to demonstrate his technical skill. Instead, he channels his astonishing technical skill into creating soundscapes that will showcase his virtuosity as often as not. The result is a guitar album that is enjoyable for non-guitar freaks, as well. Vai's vocals still have a way to go before they are as expressive as his instrumental work, but this subtle and dense concept album is the closest he's ever gotten to integrating the two sides of his musical personality together. An impressive effort from a musician who continues to grow and stretch himself with each new release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A massive, dense, ambitious musical project from one of the best guitar players currently breathing. It opens with a gunshot, sirens and general mayhem. What follows are 74 minutes of concept metal fusion madness. The disc is divided into two sections: "Phase 1" is mostly instrumental, and mostly the kind of frenetic, classically-structured, guitar-centric stuff Vai has spent his career defining and redefining. "Phase 2" adds words.
All of it is really just a showcase for Vai's prodigious talent, and his desire keep the basic sound of the heavy-metal guitar intact while branching out into more ambitious directions. "The Crying Machine" is typical: Vai defines a simple melodic line, then explores that line, and the fretboard, with a vengeance. At times pure wail, at times staccato chirp, but always in the middle of everything, Vai's guitar is more a Presence than a mere musical instrument. It ain't rock and roll, it ain't jazz, it ain't pure fusion...it's simply Steve Vai!Q (10/96, p.172) - 3 Stars - Good - "...a well conceived, heavyweight instrumental first half counterbalanced by the rather fragmented second half....the execution throughout is never less than masterful."